The first Beer Mansion in London was one of the best beer events of last year, so could Brooklyn pull it off again in 2017?

Last year a few friends and I got £10 tickets for a very mysterious event put on by Brooklyn Brewery which turned out to be one of the best nights out I’ve ever had.

Needless to say we were excited about going again for round two, though in the knowledge that it would be a quite a feat to hit the same heights again.

2017’s event was more expensive, with tiered prices depending on how quickly you got tickets. Brooklyn invited me to attend this year but I certainly would have paid if that had not been the case considering the unlimited pours and various other enjoyable elements on offer.

Rachael, brand ambassador for Brooklyn in the UK, wisely chose the same venue for this year. MC Motors in Dalston, North London, is an almost endless maze of rooms and places to explore making it perfect for a ‘multi-sensory beer experience’.

The initial impact as we walked in was very similar to last year. There was a low-lit, slightly smoky feel to the place which lent itself well to the cool evening vibe of the event.

This year the rooms were themed and dressed to impress – particularly the forest room which was full of plants and featured a live band dressed in foliage. Beers were grouped together to fit the room they were in which was clever.

We had just as much fun as last year exploring what was on offer, both from Brooklyn itself and guest breweries including Redchurch, 40FT and Thornbridge. There were also beers being poured from Brooklyn’s sister breweries NYA Carnagia and EC Dahls.

Highlights of the generally available beers for me included Work by Forest Road, EC Dahls’ Store Bjørn Juleøl Tripel and Brooklyn’s Bel Air despite the fact I’m not so keen on sours.

The best beers, however, were harder to obtain as they came in the form of experimental one-off ‘Ghost Bottles’ that were only available via a private tasting with Brewmaster Garrett Oliver.

Luckily I was able to taste Tripel Burner and a 2007 Black Ops among others but there was some confusion beforehand about who could go and how. It was also a shame that the bar staff started pouring these rare beers away at the end.

The current version of Black Ops was available to anyone, as was Intensified Coffee Porter and the brand new Cloaking Device, a bretted Porter.

But due to logistics, the latter was only available on the second day while The Passion of the Mango Ghost Bottle was exclusive to the first – something I was looking forward to tasting.

Despite the niggles, and I stress they were minor issues, the event was awesome once again and many things were improved such as the addition of proper glasses. The sheer shock and surprise we experience last year was not something that could be recreated.